SD and JQ: A lexical and semantic crossover region Semantic change: Conclusion
vegetables. However, TP, JR, DJ, TN and BL do grow ‘arrowhead’ and use an indigenous Sui word ȶʰiu³
to refer to it. By extension, these places often use ȶʰiu³ to refer to ‘spinach’ too.
Similar cases can be found in such words as ‘taro’ ʔɣaːk⁷ or ȶe⁴ hui², ‘Chinese chives’ ŋam² or qə⁰
ȶu³ and ‘coriander’ ʔma¹ zui¹ or ʔma¹ laːŋ¹, for which apparently different varieties of similar vegetables have different Sui words. Rarely are both words used in the same location. ‘Chives’ is an exception - both
the words ŋam² and qə⁰ ȶu³ are in use in some places. Our wordlist elicitation procedures were not
rigorous enough to uncover all of these slight semantic differences, especially with words for plants and animals.
Some locations have preserved an old Sui word for ‘log raft’, za² JQ, ZH and JL, probably because rafts are still in use in these locations. Other Sui areas used a compound
paːi² mai⁴ or similar, literally meaning ‘row of tree trunks’. Similarly, the older Sui word for boat,
lwa¹, appears to have dropped out of usage in some areas for example PD and JR, being replaced by a Chinese loan su
ən² or ɕon² see Stanford 2011. Again, this could be due to a lapse of many centuries in using this particular mode of
transport in these particular locations. Finally, a fascinating study can be made of the Sui words used to designate other minority groups
who live in and around the Sui area exonyms. The word miu¹ or ʔmiu in Southern Sui is universally
used to refer to the Miao people. In some locations e.g., SY and JQ, this word is also applied to the Yao. In other mostly Central and Western Sui areas, the Chinese loanword
jaːu² or jaːu⁴ from 瑶族
‘Yao nationality’ is used, either on its own or modifying the word
miu¹. RL and SJ, both situated in close proximity to a Yao minority township, use an entirely different word to refer to the Yao,
ka⁴ paːŋ⁵, which may be related to the specific branch of Yao who live in this area in contrast with the Yao
ʔmiu¹ who live in and around SY. The Kam people are almost universally referred to as
kam¹ in Sui, the same as the Kam’s own autonym, reflecting the close relationship of these two people groups. Fascinatingly, the
Yang’an Sui whom we believe to have descended from a branch of Kam appear to have no indigenous word for the Kam. Instead, they use an old Chinese loanword
toŋ⁶ it cannot be a recent loan due to the tone category, sometimes in conjunction with the word
miu¹ ‘Miao’. They refer to themselves as the sui³ kam¹ ‘Kam-like Sui’ see chapter 3, section 3.3.1.